Improvement in steam-generators



tlnited guette' tuent @twine Letters Patent No. 94,827, dated September 14, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making partrof the same.

To all whom it may concern f Be it known that I, LEVI S. IvEs, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam- Generators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and "use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The object of this invention is three-fold, namely:

First, to separate from the feed-water all mineral and organic matter in solution and suspension, thereby preventing incrustation of the boiler;

Second, to heat the feed-water t-o the same temperature as that in the boiler, before it is thrown upon the heating-surfaces; and

Third, to prevent priming` or foaming.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a flueboiler-tlues not shown-with receiving-pan and connect-ng-pipes.

Figure 2, a cross-section of the-same.

Figure 3, a cross-section of a tubular boiler, or locomotive, with the pau and pipes in their proper po- Sition.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.4

A is the shell of the boiler.

B B, the tlues.

O is a pan, of galvanized iron, thin boiler-iron, cop-'- per, east-iron, orany metal desired.

C is a flanch, on the upper edge of the pan C, projecting inward toward the middle ofthe pan. f

d (l d d are partitions, placed in the pan crosswise. but not so high as the sides of the pan.

D is a pipe, placed near the bottom of the boiler, running lengthwise, capped at one end, and passing through the boiler-head at thc other end; or it may pass out atthe side or top of the boiler, if more convenient. A blow-off valve is to be attached to this end,ol1tside oi' the boiler. The capped end of this pipe may pass through the other boiler-head, to which the feed-pipe may be connected, if preferable" E E E I 'l ll are vertical pipes, connecting the pan C with the blow-off pipe D, at intervals of two, three, or four feet apart, or more.

F E F F are branches of blow-off pipe D, running in any direction from said pipe.

The area of the cross-section 'of the pipe D should be a tril'le greater than the,sum of the areas of the pipes E and F leading into it, so as to produce strong currents through E and F when blowing ed through pipe D. V

G 'is a feed-pipe, passing through the boiler-head into pan C. It may pass through-any part of the shell of the boiler, or either head, most convenient, in either end of the pan C.

The line a: is the usual water-line. The line y is the top edge ofthe pan C. H is al pipe, near the top of the boiler', running lengthwise.

J J J J J are pipes, ruiming down from the pipe H to ucar the bottom of pan C. In tubular and looomotive boilers, as generally constructed, it is prefer'- able to use them instead of pipes D and E. (See figs. land 2.) llhey may, in like manuel' as in tubular boilers, be used instead of pipes D and E, if desirable. Of course, when one set of blow-offpipcs is used, the other is unnecessary, exceptin tubular or locomotive boilers. The pipes D and E may he used to blow otl" sediment from the bottom, separately from the pipes H and J. (See tig. 3.) This is the proper method of using where it is inconvenient to connectthe parts in the manner shown in vfigs. land 2.

The pau C may be placed nearest the back end'of the boiler, and the feed-pipe at the same end, allowing the water, after being freed from its impurities, to flow from the front end of the pan, if such ari-angement is preferable.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows, namely:

The feed-water enters the pan at C, and being colder, is specilically heavier than the surrounding water, and, being urged forward by the incoming feed, flows along toward partition d, rises over it, and falls to the bottom ofthe next compartment, leaving a portion ofthe suspended matter in the rst compartment. It rises successively over each partition, and as the water becornes heated, it leaves at first a heavy deposit of mineral, and, gradually less and less, till before it reaches the other end of the pan, it depositsits precipitated matter and sediment in the dierentcompartments, till the feed is heated to the temperature of the surrounding wat-er, which will be the temperaf ture due to the pressure. It will, consequently, deposit in the pan all minera-l matter that can be separated by the heat in the boilenat that time, for the greater the degree of heat the water is subjected to, the greater will bethe proportion of--the minerals in solution that will be precipitated and deposited. And since the fecdwater in the pan becomes of the same temperature as the water in anypther part of the boiler, it follows that no matter in solution in the feedwater can possibly be precipitated after it leavesthe pan, hence the heating-surlaces of the boiler must remain free from incrustation.

The object first in importance, then, in this arrangement, is to receive the water, charged, as it frequently is, with mud, sand, and organic matter, in suspension, and lime., magnesia, and other minerals, in solution, directly into the pan, and retain it there-until it becomes as hot as any other water in the boiler, where all foreign matter that the heat in that boiler can precipitate will be separated before it leaves the pan, de-

liveiing the water to the heating-surfaces free from all scnle-prodncing material.

' The object second in importance, is to suspend the pan above, all the, heating-surfaces, with its upper' edges below the usual water-line, but near to it. and. let it ext-end throughout the length and breadth of the boiler, leavingat one end only sucient room for the water to leave the pan and fall on the parts beneath, and at the -sides only space enough to allow the steam to escape from the heating-surthces to the steamchamber of the boiler. For it' a portion of the sediment or precipitated minerals should escape YWith the water from the pan, by reason of not remaining long enoughin it to subside, before the water holding it in snpension leaves the pan, the rapidly-rising currents caused by the eseapingsteam will raise such sediment to the surface of the water in the form of scum, and

v being lirged forward by the buoyancy of thersteam,

and because in the pan no counter-currents agitate 'the water to oppose its entrancel over the sides, it will `.naturally fall to the. bottom of the pan, and remain undisturbed till the blowoi` valve is opened, and the contents of the pan will be expelled from the boiler before it has had time to harden into a crust.

The constant iiow of water into the pan over thev entire length of its sides, aided by the ilanched top of th'e pan G, will press the feed-water forward,"and force it to iiow lengthwise of the pan, and leave it only at the end opposite to that of its ingress.

The pipe D, and its branches F F; will carry oi' any sediment that is tooheavy to be carried up by the steam into the pan, the quantity of which, however, must, .in most cases, be small. l

The second obj-ect, namely, to heat the feed-water before it is 'thrown upon 4the heating-surfaces of the boiler, to prevent the strain caused by unequal eXp-ansion, yis fully accomplished, while the minerals are f being separated, as shown when treating ofI the first subject. v

The third object, namely, to prevent priming or foaming, is accomplished in the furnishing, by the pan,

Yof a large surface not agitated by currents,su'ch as cause Water in boilers to foam, on which the foam may break down; also, by constantly removing from the'y water lying upon the heatingsnrfaces, the matter which is another cause of priming.

Having thusdescribed my invention,

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters atcnt- A 1. The combination, with a steam-biler, ofthe pan C, constructed as,i described, and arranged to receive the feed-water, substantially as specified.

2 The combination, with the boiler and the said pan, of either or both sets of blow-off pipes, D E F or H J, substantially as specified.

' 1 LEVI S. IVES.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. AIKEN LEWIS J. WELSH. 

